Without a rest. The price of electricity in the wholesale market (pool) this Sunday, March 6, it stood at 379.03 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). This increase of more than 3% compared to the value set for this Saturday, is the second highest price since records exist, despite being a holiday in which the activity is much less than on working days.
According to data from the Iberian Electricity Market Operator (OMIE), the highest price will be recorded in the time slot between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., when will be 470.01 euros/MWh. The minimum, 334.21 euros/MWh, will be between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning.
84% more since the war began
After this new increase, which occurs in the midst of Russia’s military offensive on Ukraine, the price of electricity will multiply by more than eight the amount registered just one year ago, when it was paid at 45.07 euros/MWh, and it is 84% higher than when the war began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. This evolution has led to an increase in the transfer of users from the regulated rate to the free market. The highest average price in the wholesale market was on December 23 last year, when it reached its current record of 383.67 euros/MWh.
One of the components that most contributes to this takeoff is the escalation registered by the gas in international markets, which generally sets the price in the wholesale market, as it is the last source that covers demand. After the conflict in Ukraine, this fuel has experienced an unstoppable escalation. Italy has joined Spain’s requests to decouple the evolution of the price of gas from that of electricity.
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Faced with this increase in prices that may tend to worsen, the Government has decided to extend measures that try to contain the impact of the increases in the wholesale market on the bill paid by users.
It is extended until June 30 of the discount of the electric social voucher 60%, for vulnerable groups, and 70% for severely vulnerable groups, as well as the receipt tax rebates (Electric VAT of 10%, suspension of the 7% tax on the value of production and special electricity tax of 0.5%). Until that date, it will also extend other measures in force, such as the temporary reduction of extraordinary profit obtained by non-emitting gas generation plants, which ended on March 31.